His attorneys have argued that he was experiencing drug psychosis the night of the double murder and was “incapable of deliberation – the requisite intent for capital murder.”

“Brian’s crime is a complete aberration for the Brian they have always known and loved,” family members said in a letter. “For this to have happened, they know he could not have been in his right mind.”

They also attested to his remorse and rehabilitation.

In a separate letter, other family members said they support going through with Dorsey’s execution. They said Dorsey’s crime was heinous and left a young girl without her parents.

Legal experts included in the clemency application said Dorsey was not given adequate representation during his trial. His trial attorneys were paid a flat fee through the office of the Missouri State Public Defender. The head of the system, Mary Fox, said in the clemency application that they no longer use that payment structure and that it is a violation of the American Bar Association guidelines. Dorsey’s trial attorneys, Fox said, did no investigation, presented no expert witness testimony and accepted a plea deal while the death penalty remained on the table.

Dorsey’s current attorneys have filed several motions in an effort to stop his execution. One argues that the acting director of the Missouri Department of Corrections is not qualified to oversee an execution.

A federal case contends that Missouri’s protocols present a “substantial risk of serious, torturous, physical and psychological pain.”

Dorsey’s execution is one of two scheduled this year in Missouri. A warrant of execution for David Russell Hosier will go into effect on June 11.

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